Manesar landowners welcome SC order, to hold panchayat on Thursday

The land owners of Manesar, Nakhrola and Naurangpur welcomed the Supreme Court’s judgment and said they will now hold a panchayat on Thursday to discuss the repercussions

The land owners of Manesar, Nakhrola and Naurangpur welcomed the Supreme Court’s judgment and said they will now hold a panchayat on Thursday to discuss the repercussions of the order and plan their next move.

Farmers, whose land in Manesar was acquired between 2004 and 2007, were a relieved a lot following the Supreme Court’s order setting aside the Bhupinder Singh Hooda-led government’s move to cancel land acquisition of over 600 acres. (Sanjeev Verma/HT PHOTO)

The Supreme Court on Monday set aside the Haryana government’s 2007 decision quashing its 2004 notification to acquire land from the three villages in Gurgaon for setting up an industrial township. After the order, the 688 acres of land is now deemed to have been acquired by Haryana State Industrial Infrastructure Development Corporation (HSIIDC) and Haryana urban development authority (Huda). The court also directed Huda and HSIIDC to compensate farmers and buyers as per suitable policy within the next two months.

“We welcome the decision which has come after a long struggle. We sold our land (to developers) at low price under influence of the state-sponsored panic of land acquisition,” said Naurangpur village chief Pradeep Yadav.

Om Prakash, one of the complainants in the case and a farmer, said, “Panchayats of three villages are meeting at 9am on Thursday in Manesar. We will discuss the (implications of the) decision together for the first time.”

Villagers alleged that of the total land that was acquired, different developers have built high-rise residential towers on 33 acres without a building plan approval or civic amenities.

Ranveer Yadav, senior Supreme Court lawyer in the matter, said, “The government quashed the land acquisition in August 2007 and later set up a committee to decide fate of the land under acquisition process. The committee in January 2010 quashed the acquisition completely. This was modus operandi of the government functionaries to play as middlemen to benefit developers by facilitating purchase of land at low cost from farmers. Supreme Court decision is balanced for land owners and flat and plot buyers both.”

Between 2004 and 2007, when the Haryana government served land acquisition notices, land price was ₹3-4 crore per acre. “But farmers were forced to sell at ₹25 lakh to ₹1.2 crore per acre. Now, Huda and HSIIDC will have to decide fate of the land and compensate buyers and farmers suitably,” said the lawyer.

MCG commissioner Yashpal Yadav said farmers can move civil court if the HSIIDC and Huda fail to compensate suitably.